MY WEEKEND:
David Costabile Few second bananas stand out as much as David Costabile does. After killer turns in “Breaking Bad” and “Suits,” he’s stealing scenes as Wags, the foulmouthed, coked-up hedge funder of “Billions,” which airs its season finale on Sunday. So
In the morning, my wife and I like to cook. I’ve become the breakfast shortorder cook, so I make pancakes or eggs. My older daughter usually asks for sausage, which is music to my ears. Then we go to Prospect Park. We’re deeply versed in sleep deprivation, so we have to coffee up first at [Cafe] Martin on Fifth Avenue — it makes a great cup of coffee. When you have small children, you need that.
There are some great playgrounds at that park, and the main field up there is great for running and kicking a ball. If I’m lucky, I’ll go for a run — if I’m not taking a nap.
We dream about going on a date, my wife and I. When we do, we’ll often go to Franny’s. The menu changes fairly often and they have excellent pastas and terrific pizzas. If you go in the early afternoon, you can even take the kids.
In Manhattan, Bar Pitti is fantastic. We took our honeymoon in Italy, so it’s a great reminder of all the meals we had over there. It’s not a fussy place, and the food is authentically Italian and so simple, so clean and delicious. You gotta have the sautéed spinach! I’ve tried for maybe 15 years to duplicate it at home. They won’t tell me how they do it, but it’s just spinach, olive oil and garlic, and it’s both moist and dry at the same time. Years ago, when I first went there, there was this tiny little greengrocer [nearby], with a shop the size of a closet. That’s where the guy at Bar Pitti used to buy his spinach!
Sundays, we make a point to have a family meal together. I might go to Di Palo’s in Little Italy. It takes 45 minutes to get what you want, but you end up talking to people behind the counter, they tell you about what their kids are doing . . . They take it [seriously]. You learn about the producers of the food, and why they chose this particular kind of mozzarella versus another one. New York changes all the time, and it’s fun to hold onto the parts that were there a long time ago.